Fire, Music, and Company
by vampire-legend
Summary: It's Friday night and Bella is having a mental breakdown. Her oddball best friend, Edward, knows exactly how to make her relax. All-Human. One-shot.


**Disclaimer: I do not anything that belongs in the Twlight Universe. All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

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**Bella's POV:**

The buzzer sounded off and I breathed a sigh of relief, quickly writing the final score in my notes before fighting my way through the crowd and excited soccer players to get to my truck.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

_Did you cover the game?_

_From: Jessica_

I rolled my eyes and waited before I was inside my truck to answer.

_Yes._

Because unlike you, I am dependable and don't flake out on covering the soccer game that _you _need for _your _sports article just because "something came up", which I know means that Newton's parents are out of town and you want to go screw him.

Of course I didn't actually send that part.

I turned the key to the ignition and waited for the roar of my truck to come to life, but instead, all I got was a sputter and then silence.

Fuck.

I tried again, but this time, I didn't even get a sputter. Cue long sigh. I pulled out my phone again and dialed.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey, are you busy right now?" I asked.

_"You know I'm not. Why? What's the matter?" _He asked.

"I have the shittiest luck ever. My truck is dead, and I'm at the soccer field."

_"I'll be there in five minutes." _

A tiny smile flitted onto my lips. At least I had Edward. Edward had been my best friend for as long as I could remember. Our parents were friends before we were even born, and we literally grew up together.

I packed up my notebook and the camera as I waited. The entire week had been a bust. I had been studying like crazy in order to keep my GPA up. If I didn't have at least a 3.7 on my final transcript, Yale wouldn't award me the presidential scholarship that I really needed. On top of the long nights of school work, I also had newspaper and yearbook. I got all my stories in for newspaper at the last second, but we were on deadline for yearbook, and I had been arriving to school early and staying late so that I could get my spreads in tip-top shape.

Today had been the only free day I had to go home and just crash, but my neighbor came over just as I was arriving home and asked me to babysit her kid for two hours until her husband came home from work. I absolutely hated her brat of a son, but she offered me twenty dollars, and I _really_needed gas money.

Her horrible kid, Trevor, kept me on my toes for the entire two hours, and then acted like a complete saint when his dad came home. When I got home, Jessica called, saying an "emergency" had popped up and she couldn't cover the boys jv and varsity soccer games. I was going to tell her that I wouldn't do it, but I wasn't going to lose credibility on the newspaper and yearbook just because she was an imbecile.

And now _this. _My truck dies. I was utterly despondent.

_Beep. Beep._

I looked up and smiled as the headlights of the silver Volvo pulled up beside me. The window lowered and Edward's smiling face came into view.

"Need a lift?"

I jumped into his car, leant my head up against the head rest and let out a long sigh.

"Long day?" Edward asked, I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"When is it _not _a long day?" I replied without opening my eyes.

I relayed this week's events to him and vented out all of my pent up frustration and stress. By the end of it, I could hear my voice start to shake and tears began to slip out from my tightly shut eyes.

Edward pulled into my drive way and leaned over to brush the tears off from my cheeks. I opened my eyes and looked into his electric green eyes.

"I don't even know why I'm crying," I told him.

"You're tired," he answered, picking up my hand and massaging the spot between my thumb and forefinger. "You just need a break."

"Thank you," I said, stilling his hand and leaning over to kiss his cheek.

"Anytime," he answered, smiling. I got out of the car and made my way inside.

As I closed the door, I spotted a note on the table next to it.

_Taking the night shift. Won't be back until tomorrow afternoon. Good night. -Love, Dad_

That just set me off again, and suddenly, tears were welling up in my eyes again. Edward was right. My mental stability was so stretched out right now, that it was going to take a miracle to set my emotions straight.

The bell rang, and I wiped my eyes before opening the door. It was Edward.

"I noticed the chief's car wasn't here," he said. He took into account my puffy eyes, and brought me into his arms. I just stood still and enjoyed the security of his arms around me.

"You really shouldn't be alone right now," he said.

"Maybe that's exactly what I need," I objected.

"Hmm," I heard him quietly say to himself. "I have an idea."

I stepped out of his arms and looked up at his face. His eyes were thoughtful, wise, and excited, as if he'd just come up with a way to bring world peace.

"What?" I asked warily.

"I know exactly what you need," he said happily, grabbing my hand and taking me upstairs. He grabbed a bag I had hanging on the doorknob, and stuffed my pajamas that were on the bed inside of it, before grabbing my bag of toiletries and also putting it in the bag.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Just trust me," he said.

I wanted to know what the hell he was doing, but his face was so excited as he quickly moved around my room grabbing stuff that I couldn't say anything. He was done in a matter of seconds and grabbed my hand again before leading me downstairs and into his car.

"What's going on?" I asked again, this time my voice had more edge.

"You have to trust me on this," he said before pulling out of the driveway and speeding off. Five minutes later, we turned into the winding driveway of his house.

"Sleepover?" I asked.

"Somewhat," he said, but that was it. The light and shadows in his eyes were dancing with excitement.

We had sleepovers often, but not without our parents knowing. If I slept over at his house, his parents had to be there, and the same went for my house. However, Edward had told me earlier this week that both his parents went to a medical conference in Seattle and wouldn't be back until Sunday.

Edward parked the car in front of the dark house and ran around the front of the car to open the door for me. I took his offered hand and he led me into the house.

"I want you to go upstairs and take a long hot shower. When you're done, put on your pajamas and meet me outside."

That's all he said, before racing up to his room. I shook my head tiredly, but I did as he instructed. I took a long hot shower and let the water cascade down my back, letting it relax the knots and tension in my back. Already I was beginning to feel more lax and carefree.

I wondered what Edward could have been doing. I could already tell that it was going to be strange. Edward was the definition of "oddball". That was probably why we were best friends.

I turned in the shower to let the hot water run over my face.

There were many times when I envied Edward. He should have been just as stressed out as me. He studies just as hard and he did career shadowing at the hospital before and after school. By that logic, he should be having an emotional and mental breakdown right alongside me. However, that boy was as calm as the eye of a tornado. I imagined it must have something to do with the fact that he always had his ear buds in his ears. Music was his life. He had thousands of songs in his library, and added more every day. Nothing could faze that boy when he was lost in his music.

The water began to cool, so I finished up and changed into my pajamas.

"Are you done?" Edward asked from outside the door.

"Yes," I called out.

"Good, come on out," he said.

I opened the door and took in the sight of him. He was also dressed in his pajamas, and it seemed as if he had also taken a quick shower, seeing as how his hair was dark, wet and flopping haphazardly in his eyes. He was smiling like a kid in a candy store.

There were times when that smile would make my heart jump into my throat and my cheeks would heat up, but then I remembered that Edward was just my friend. He may be the sweetest, most handsome devil ever, but he was my best friend, and that was it.

"Let's go," he said, taking my hand and leading me downstairs. He opened the patio doors and a small smile flitted onto my lips.

"What the heck is this?" I asked.

There was a small campfire burning in the middle of the backyard. Right next to it was a table with plastic packages and a cooler. There was also a truck (which I recognized as the black Ford that belonged to Edward's friend, Jasper Whitlock) with a mattress and blankets piled on top of it.

I raised my eyebrows at Edward.

"It's not what you think, you pervert," he teased.

He led me down the steps and encouraged me to sit on top of the mattress in the bed of the truck. Then he went back up the steps where his parents kept the surround-sound system. Two seconds later, soft acoustic music poured out of the speakers.

"What is going on?" I asked.

"Tonight is going to be your ultimate relaxation night," he explained.

"Here," he reached inside of the cooler and pulled out a dos equis.

"How did you get this?" I asked, but immediately took the bottle opener he offered and opened the beer.

"When Emmett came down from Seattle last weekend, he decided to play the role of cool older brother, so he bought me a bunch of stuff and hid it in the fridge in the garage," he explained.

He took a beer for himself and settled down next to me. Then he reached over to the table and picked up a long stick and a package.

"Marshmallows?" I asked.

"You can't have a campout without smores," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Here," he passed me the stick. I took it, sending him an amused glance. He reached back and wrapped one of the blankets around us.

"You do realize that this is weird, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," he responded, putting his arm around me. "But you need weird in your life. You'll know what I'm talking about soon enough."

I wasn't sure I would, but I stayed quiet, ate my smore, and sipped my beer,

_And I would wait for you, even if it's the last thing I do for you. The sun goes down in your eyes. Just open up and realize I would never leave your side. _

I paid close attention to the soft music and began to quietly sing along to the chorus. Edward sipped on his beer and stared into the fire with pensive content. I slipped out of Edward's arm and rearranged myself so I was leaning on the side of the truck with my body extended in front of me. Edward mirrored my position.

_I remember when we were driving, driving in your car. Speed so fast, it felt like I was drunk. City lights laid out before us, and your arm felt nice wrapped around my shoulder, and I had a feeling that I belonged, and I had a feeling I could be someone._

The music began to envelop me, brushing over my skin, leaving a calming drug that penetrated through me. The warmth of the fire licked the air near me, and created the perfect contrast to the ice cold beer running down my throat. I turned towards Edward, and he was watching me, a bemused expression on his face.

"See what I mean?" he asked, although his pleased expression signaled that he already knew the answer. I nodded. So this was what he meant by ultimate relaxation.

"I feel like some 90's teenager," I confessed. Edward chuckled.

"If we're going to subject ourselves to that stereotype, then we've got to have some kind of breakthrough conversation that makes us both cry," he said.

"That is true," I agreed.

"Hmm, so how's the love life?" he started off, smiling.

"As empty and depressing as always," I laughed. "But not too depressing to cause me to start crying. What about you?"

"Same here," he confessed. He was quiet for a second, staring thoughtfully into the fire. Then he turned his questioning eyes to me. "You don't…like anyone…do you?"

I shook my head.

"You?"

"Kind of," he admitted. His embarrassed voice intrigued me. Edward was never shy.

"Who?" I asked.

"I'm not telling," he said, but his eyes stayed on me. "If anything ever becomes of it, you'll be the first to know."

I frowned. Edward was definitely the most amazing guy I could ever think of, and I always wondered when he would get a girlfriend. Truth be told, I was very glad he didn't have one. I couldn't imagine a world where I would have to share him with another girl.

"Tell me about her then," I inquired.

"No way, you'd figure it out in two seconds," he said. "How about you tell me something. What's your ideal guy?"

I took the last sip of my beer and Edward handed me another. I could feel the effect of the alcohol slowing down my reactions and leaving me lax.

"Uhm, give me a second," I said.

I tried to think of the kind of person that I wanted to spend forever with. The only specifications I could think of described Edward exactly.

"Don't take this the wrong way," I warned. "But my ideal guy would be exactly like you."

I waited for Edward's face to furrow in shock, and I prepared an explanation of how I didn't want _him_but I wanted someone like him. Instead, his smile widened.

"Really?" he asked.

I nodded.

"I would want someone funny, sweet, weird, and," I paused, leaning forward to pinch his cheeks, "completely adorable and handsome."

He laughed, swatting my hands away.

"Well to be honest, I would want someone like you too," he admitted.

"Really?" I asked, intrigued.

"Yup," he said, popping the _p _and reaching into the cooler to top himself off.

_Your faith was strong but you needed proof. You saw her bathing on the roof. Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you. She tied you to a kitchen chair. She broke your throne, she cut your hair, and from your lips, she drew the hallelujah._

I paid no attention to the strange looks Edward was giving me. I was used to his odd behavior.

We stayed put for the rest of the night, just sitting, talking, and feeling completely at peace. Before we fell asleep that night, underneath the stars, I kissed his cheek and thanked him for what he did. Everything from that night was perfect, and that night of complete peace and happiness was one that would become my most precious memory.

Later on, I would come to realize that it wasn't the beer, the soft music, the perfect weather, or the random fire that meant so much to me. It was just Edward.

****

**Hey everyone! I've been feeling kind of hipster lately, so I wrote this one-shot! The songs in it are – **_**Waiting **_**By: Landon Austin, **_**Fast Car **_**By: Tracy Chapman, and **_**Hallelujah**_** By: Leonard Cohen.****This story isn't super long, but I've been wanting to write something like this for a while. An epilogue is a definite maybe.**

**By the way, I have a dilemma. I usually post cover art and playlists on my website, but I've run out of room there. Should I create a new website, or just leave it be?**

**Anyways, thanks for reading! Reviews make me happy, especially constructive ones!**

**Love,**

**Vampire-legend**


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